VW to slash 25,000 job opennings

Oct 31, Berlin: Europes largest auto vehicle producers Volkswagen on Monday claimed that their shift to electric cars manufacturing will force the company to slash 25,000 job openings in the coming years.

According to local reports, the slash in job openings is because vehicles with electric motors are made of fewer components than vehicles with combustion engines, “we will need fewer employees in the long-term", said VW Group Chief Human Resources Officer Karlheinz Blessing.
According to the HR chief, the global scandal over VW cheating emission tests isn’t the main factor behind the planned job cuts, but “now the pressure to act, however, is greater."

Blessing added that the board plans no compulsory redundancies, "but we will reduce the number of employees." VW expects up to 25,000 staff to be cut over the next decade as older workers retire.

He further added that the management and labor leaders will meet to discuss the company’s cost cuts before a November 18 meeting of the supervisory board to approve future spending plans as VW is considering the possibility but no decision has been made so far.

The car manufacturer is expected to pay approximately $15.3 billion after admitting it cheated on US diesel emissions tests. VW will pay up to $2.7 billion over three years to enable the US government to replace old buses, bringing the fine closer to the $18 billion VW had prepared to cover costs of the scandal, local reports stated.